Entries by Amy C. Teeple

Do you remember those Magic Eye pictures? They were all the rage in the 1990s. (There was even an appearance in a Seinfeld episode … but, I digress.)
The point of these pictures was to stare at it until you saw the hidden 3-D image within the picture. Some people saw the image right away, others […]

“Free” is a very effective power word. It grabs your reader’s attention and may even convince him to take that next conversion step.
However, if you use “free” incorrectly, it could cost you.
Does “free” remove value?
I recently witnessed the following scene.
A 15-year-old boy uses color ink to print the informational page for a PC that he […]

It is official: I’m now two 21-year-olds! (That sounds so much better than 42.)
This past year has definitely brought many changes in my life. (Check out my Not another thankful post to see what I mean.) It is safe to say that I am not in the same place in my life that I was […]

At sundown tonight, Pesach, known in English as Passover, will begin. According to Judaism 101, Passover “is one of the most commonly observed Jewish holidays, even by otherwise non-observant Jews” with 67% of Jews routinely attending a Passover seder, while only 46% belong to a synagogue.
Easter is more than a week away (celebrated April 20th […]

As I have mentioned before, I am a fan of 1980s pop culture. One of my favorite teen angst movies from the 80s is The Breakfast Club. However, I don’t want to talk about any of the main characters or pivotal scenes.
No, I want to talk about a few lines muttered by Carl, the janitor.
In […]

Your in-house copywriting best practices were probably well thought out when they were created, but are they still up to date?
Sometimes, in-house writing teams can fall into the trap of the “this is how we’ve always done it” mindset. But what happens when Google makes another algorithm update and your best practices are no longer […]

During some recent holiday travel, I saw this sign in the San Diego airport. I had to take a picture of it because I wondered how many people asked. “How much does it cost?” before they added the handwritten sign “free.”
Who are you trying to reach?
A 2012 report indicated that the average reading level of […]

Although it’s true that synonyms are an SEO copywriter’s friend, not every word in your thesaurus is created equal.
Don’t turn to a thesaurus unless you know how to use it.
Make sure the words you choose really convey the proper message.
It’s a lurking marketing nightmare
A few years ago, I walked past a sign for a youth […]

I will admit it. I love ’80s music. Born in the early ’70s, I was a pre-teen and teen in the 1980s and loved pop music (or whatever we were calling it back then). Wham!, Bananarama, Corey Hart, Joan Jett, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, The Police, Paula Abdul, Prince, Whitney Houston, The Hooters, Squeeze, […]